As many people will have seen by now, Brendan McDonagh has walked away from the brand‑new Housing Activation Office after a storm of controversy over the proposed €430k pay packet. Fine Gael ministers say they were never asked to sign off on either the name or the eye‑watering salary, so they blocked it on principle. The Taoiseach now concedes the whole appointment was “not executed perfectly”, which is political speak for ‘it blew up in our faces’.
If Ministers can’t even hire someone for the role without a mortifying public climb‑down, what hope is there that the office will actually bulldoze planning logjams as intended? First impressions count, and this one doesn’t exactly scream competence. Very rough start all things considered.
– Ben